ssunset at Otter Rock

 

 

The
Levenspiel
Family
Wentletraps on the beach

Octave | Mary Jo | Bekki | Barney | Morris | Keith | Kyle | Cody | Quincy

This web site was designed as a place where members of our family could share their interests with friends and family. So who ARE these Levenspiels in Oregon?

Mary Jo Smiley and Octave Levenspiel were married July 13, 1952. Tavy (Octave) taught Chemical Engineering and wrote text books while Mary Jo raised 3 children, Bekki (Rebecca), Barney (Joseph Bernard) and Morris. During the kids' high school years, Mary Jo returned to school and earned her PhD in Child Psychology. In 1992, Tavy retired, but just can't seem to stay away from haunting the halls of Chem. Eng. Dept. at OSU.
Mary Jo and Tavy thoroughly enjoy being grandparents. They di a fair share of babysitting, attending the boys' tennis games, band concerts, soccer games, theater productions and art shows. Mary Jo is very interested in genealogy and is researching relatives.. She gets a real thrill when she finds a relative in Brazil, or South Africa. After retiring, Tavy self-published a book "Rambling Through Science and Technology" and has put his "Chemical Reactor Omnibook" for sale on a print-on-demand company (Lulu.com) He also has published a new book "Tracer Technology" and a third edition of" Engineering Flow and Heat Exchange" printed by Springer.

As grownups, Bekki taught special education elementary children in Alaska and the Seattle area. In the 1980's, Bekki married Keith Levien, also a Chemical Engineer professor at OSU, gave up teaching and began family life, raising 3 boys, Kyle, Cody and Quincy. She began her second 'career' as a graphic designer and dabbles in stained glass for fun. Currently (2015), Bekki is still doing freelance graphics, Kyle graduated from Western Washington University and works in Seattle, Cody graduated from Linfield College and works at FEI in Hillsboro, OR, Quincy is a junior at University of Arizona studying Mechanical Engineering and Keith continues to work teaching process control in the School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at OSU.

Barney lived in Japan and Seattle and worked for a student exchange Japanese company called Labo. In the mid 80's while in Japan, Barney contracted a kidney disease that destroyed his kidneys, so he began dialysis while continuing to work and travel for Labo. In 2003, Barney passed away due to complications of a kidney transplant. He has left a huge hole in our family.

xmas 2014

Morris resides in Portland, working as a property manager for commercial real estate. He now has 2 dogs, Moo Cow and Bandit who keep him fit with multiple daily walks and long runs on the beach.

Mary Jo and Tavy moved in 2014 to a Continuous Care Retirement Community in Portland, Willamette View. It is a wonderful community with many folks from Corvallis living there but has been a challenge keeping up with the physical needs of growing old.

Now that we are all in Oregon, we see each other more often, spending weekends and holidays at Otter Rock and celebrating special events together. This web site is common ground where we can all share our own interests.